


Like My Father Before Me

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Evil Luke AU [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ben Solo Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Dark, Dark Luke, Good Parent Han Solo, Han Solo Ships It, Jedi Ben Solo, Multi, Protective Han Solo, Protective Poe Dameron, Slow Burn Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-18 08:52:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14849654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: What if Luke had fallen under Snoke’s influence, instead of Ben?





	1. Attack on the Temple

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Ben stumbled out of the Academy, coughing even as he tried to rid himself of the smoke that filled his lungs, even as he tried to get himself under control. Tried to take a deep breath, to swipe tears from his eyes. Of all the things he’d expected, he hadn’t expected something like this. 

His uncle was gaining on him. He could feel it. And he doubted that he could outrun his uncle forever. His uncle was an older man, of course, and Ben was nineteen, but even then, Ben doubted that he could run forever. 

The hangar was up ahead. He had to keep running, though his legs were burning from running, though Luke was gaining on him...

It was in that moment that he ran into someone. Literally. He shouted in fear, only to realize that it was only Poe. Poe Dameron. Thank the Force. 

“Poe!” he said. “I’m sorry.”

”No problem. What’s going on?”

And it was then that Poe saw Luke. Poe saw Luke, and he knew that Ben was in trouble. Poe drew his blaster, and fired. Luke deflected the bolts like they were no more than annoying flies, and Ben drew his lightsaber. 

They dueled. Ben was already getting tired, but he knew full well that he didn’t want to die, hadn’t come so far only to die. 

Luke looked at him with a sort of pity. “You were never a good duelist, Ben,” he said. “Surrender. You need not die with the others.”

”Never.”

And there was something about just about all of that that led Ben to fight even more. Even harder. He reached out with the Force and froze Luke in place. 

The look of fury seemed to be frozen on the fallen Jedi Master’s face. 

Ben, fingers shaking, dialed his father’s comlink. “Dad? It’s me, Ben. The Temple burned down and...I need you to come get me and Poe. And Uncle Luke, if you can.” He swallowed. “Please.”

 


	2. The Falcon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Ben have a chat. It’s not pleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Luke woke up in the Millennium Falcon’s brig with Ben sitting across from him, and he hated his nephew even more. Ben actually had the gall to look like he didn’t want to do this, like he was somehow sad about all of this. 

“Did you put me here?” he said. His voice sounded like he had been shouting just about all day. 

“I wish I didn’t have to do this,” Ben said. “It gave me no pleasure.”

Luke snorted. “Of course you’d say that. Where exactly are we going?”

”You’re going to Coruscant to stand trial,” Ben said. 

“I did nothing wrong — ’’

”You set the Academy on fire. You killed your own students.” Ben’s voice seemed to be shaking with fury. 

That Luke could not deny. Snoke had all but given the orders to destroy the Academy. “ _Even you, son of Lord Vader, have never faced such a test..._ ”

And, “ _Fulfill your destiny and you will truly be worthy of the Knights of Ren_.”

Except he wasn’t quite worthy of being part of the Knights of Ren, was he? Not after he had been bested by a Padawan who was generally mediocre in every way. 

“It was unfortunate,” Luke said, “But necessary.”

”You’re kriffing kidding me, right?”

”I saw the truth, Ben,” Luke said. “And if you were in my position, you’d do the same thing.”

”I would never — ’’

”I learned better, Ben.”

”Did you?” Ben said. 

“I learned quite a bit. I learned the Jedi need to end. I’ve learned it for some time.”

”You hypocrite.” Ben looked at him like he’d never seen him before. 

“Yes,” Luke said, a darkly wry edge to his voice. “I suppose I am.”

***

By the time that Ben had gotten out of his discussion with Luke, he felt like his head was spinning with revulsion. He found the main hold, where his father and Poe were; they were currently in hyperspace headed to Coruscant. His father spoke. “Are you okay, kiddo?”

”I wish I was,” Ben said. 

“I’m sorry, kiddo. I wish I’d seen it coming sooner.”

”It wasn’t your fault,” Ben said. “Really.”

”Still, I could have protected you...”

”There was no way you could have known.”

Silence fell. Then Poe spoke. “What do we do now?”

”I guess that’s in the hands of the courts,” Han said. “If they try him.”

”Yeah.” Poe sighed. “Ben...for a moment there I actually thought he’d kill you...”

”I survived.” Ben sent him a slightly crooked smile. 

“Yeah.” Poe sighed and looked up at the Falcon’s ceiling. “We both did.”


	3. Rationalize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han talks with Luke. Meanwhile, Ben and Poe confess their feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Special thanks to MidgardianNerd for inspiring this chapter! I love the idea of protective!Han. It’s just so glorious.

In space, you could never tell if night was falling or not. Han could only assume that it had. Everything around him was mostly hyperspace. It was his turn to sit guard over Luke, and already, Han felt like he had been hit by a speeder. 

He should have known that something was wrong sometime after Endor. The way that Luke seemed so distant at times, the way he would have these flashes of anger that just didn’t seem like Luke. Luke could get angry, but he never got outright aggressive. He’d apologize after his outbursts, but they were still enough to unsettle Han. 

Leia had been hesitant to hand Ben off to Luke, but she had said to him that it may have been their best chance. “Ben is very powerful,” she told him. “He needs to learn to control it."

Han didn’t tell her that if anything, Luke was the one they had to be worried about. He couldn’t find the words. If he had, would she have sent Ben to Luke?

And now he was sitting before Luke. Luke, who stared ahead too calmly, too easily. Han would have preferred it if he were outright gloating. It was easier dealing with the monsters when they were cackling clowns, wasn’t it?

Now Han sat before Luke, and he said, “Why’d you do it?”

Silence. 

“Well?” Han said. Surely his former friend (Han had a feeling that after this instance, “former” was a good thing to think in relation to “friend”) had something to say for himself. 

Luke lifted his head. His blue eyes seemed outright eerie, cold in the light of the brig. “I saw the truth, Han. The Jedi needed to end.”

”And that justifies trying to kill Ben?”

“If necessary.” Luke was silent. “My Lord told me enough of the truth to let me know the Jedi needed to end. How they allowed the rise of Darth Vader.”

”You’re wrong,” Han said. “Vader chose his path, didn’t he? It’s not like the Jedi mind controlled him into doing what he did. He chose it. And Ben had zero to do with what happened.”

Silence. 

“If you ever come near my son again,” Han said, “They’ll find your body floating in space.” A beat. “I don’t want to do this, Luke, but to protect Ben...”

”...you’ll do anything?” Luke said, calmly. 

“Yes.” Han swallowed. “Anything.”

***

While Han was busy talking with Luke, Ben sat in the main hold, nursing a cup of caf. He should have been able to get to sleep, but he couldn’t. Knowing that Luke was in the brig...

It was horrible to think, but Ben knew that he wouldn’t be comfortable until Luke was behind a forcefield in Coruscant’s prison. He feared his uncle, and he supposed that he wasn’t the only one who did. 

Poe sat next to him in that moment, and Ben couldn’t help but feel comforted by his presence. Poe had a talent for doing that, Ben thought. They sat together, and Ben couldn’t help but be hyperaware of how close Poe’s body heat was to him. So very close...

 _Please. Do you even know what you’re doing to me, sitting so close? So close.._. 

“Hey,” he said, trying to sound casual. 

“Hey.” Poe looked worried, which Ben couldn’t say he liked — it was understandable, but Poe was such a bright presence, almost luminous; it hurt thinking of his light going out. “You okay?”

”I’m...scared.” Ben couldn’t help but feel weak admitting it to Poe, but it was the truth. “Of my uncle.”

”Your dad’s watching over him in the brig,” Poe said. “Don’t worry.”

It made sense. There was something about Poe’s logic that was comforting. Cooling, even. 

“You okay?” Ben said. 

“Ben,” Poe said, “I have to admit that...for a moment I nearly lost you. And I...I can’t stop thinking about it.” His voice cracked, and Ben’s heart broke hearing it. 

“I’m here,” Ben said. “I’m okay."

”I know. And I’m grateful for that. I just...” Poe swallowed. There was a pause, and then Poe finally said, almost in a rush, “I love you.”

And in a way, it was what Ben wanted to hear all along. 

“I love you too.” In the end, there was no better response than this. Poe’s lips were so very close and Ben could count his eyelashes, and Poe was so beautiful, and Ben loved him, loved him so much he thought his heart would burst —

Their lips touched. Poe’s lips were so very soft, almost like silk, and Ben didn’t care what anyone would have thought. 

In the end, there was no safer place he could be than being loved by Poe. 

 


	4. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Poe’s happiness is short-lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was when Han stepped into the main hold the next morning for breakfast that he couldn’t help but notice that Ben and Poe were sitting together, Poe’s head against Ben’s shoulder, half a smile on Poe’s lips, and half a smile on Ben’s. There was something about it that was enough to lift Han’s spirits, despite all the awfulness that had happened. 

Ben looked up at Han, clearly startled, as did Poe, sitting upright as Han entered. Ben spoke. “It’s — ’’

”Hey, don’t worry about it. I knew, you know.” Han sat next to them; Chewie was watching over Luke in the brig so he wouldn’t escape. “I mean,” Han said, “The way you looked at each other. The way you talked about each other. It was clear something was going on.”

”So you’re okay with it?” Ben said. 

Han nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

”Mom and Uncle Luke thought I shouldn’t...”

”Heck with that. You have as much of a right to happiness as anyone.”

Ben’s face brightened, and Han knew that he would do just about everything and anything to see that more often in his son. 

The console beeped, and Han sighed. “Looks like we’re coming up on Coruscant.”

Coruscant was one big city, which reminded Han of Corellia in his youth, though unlike Corellia, it wasn’t a complete hellhole. It was landing that Han turned to Ben and Poe. “Chewie can handle...Luke.” Right now, he didn’t feel comfortable even mentioning Luke’s name. The name of the man who had been lying to them all this time about being on the side of the Light. The name of the man who had tried to kill Ben — his treasure, his son —

“I’m here,” Ben said. “I’m okay.”

”I know.” Nothing but love for his son could have conjured up that amount of rage towards Luke. 

There was a long silence before there was the sound of scuffling from the brig. A roar from Chewie that was cut off. Han felt a sudden chill go up his spine. 

They had to find Chewie. 

They raced down to the brig, only to find Chewie lying on the floor and Luke gone. Han ran towards Chewie, even as the Wookiee stirred. 

Chewie groaned, and Han said, “It’s all right, pal. Do you know where Luke went?”

Another groan. 

“He ran to Coruscant. Should have figured.” Han took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

 


End file.
